Nobody wants to pay for Sanctional live streams. Kristin Holte makes a small surgery detour. Josh Bridges makes his return this year.
Good morning and welcome to the WODDITY podcast for news about CrossFit. We are a daily podcast, Monday through Friday, doing CrossFit news in five minutes or less.
My name is Ben Garves and today is Thursday, the 30th of January, 2020.
FloElite and Loud and Live to Charge for Live Streams (Again)
FloElite has signed a deal with Loud and Live Sports to be the only source of live streams for their Sanctional events in a multi-year deal. This means events like Wodapalooza, the West Coast Classic, Madrid, the Granite Games, and the Mayan CrossFit Classic will require payment to watch their live streams. Not just this season, but for multiple seasons.
I have two immediate reactions: first, get your money. Second, this is a damn shame for the community. Loud and Live Sports puts on arguably the biggest events in the realm, case in point: Wodapalooza. This now means almost a fifth of Sanctional events require a payment to watch their streams, limiting access to a community who really depends on free access to continue growing. This isn’t unprecedented: FloElite charged for their Wodapalooza and Granite Games live streams last year.
Putting on a live stream is expensive, but I would’ve expected Loud and Live to embrace the lead taken by events like the Filthy150 and Strength in Depth, providing great live streams for free. But that’s just my opinion. As someone who has run a number of live streams. Bro.
I’m a big fan of comedy, so here’s a good laughing point: FloElite wants to charge you to read their press release about the whole thing. I don’t know if this is an accident, or intentional. But it IS hilarious. Alternatively, you can read about it on Morning Chalk Up for free. As it should be.
The Lance-McWherter Book
Cassidy Lance-McWherter has recently announced her and her wife are pregnant after undergoing multiple heart-breaking rounds of in-vitro fertilization. Their new book “One Day” is now available for sale on their online store, detailing their family experience with IVF.
Holte’s Wrist Surgery
The defending second-fittest woman on earth, Kristin Holte of Norway, has taken a quick foray under the knife to work out some Carpal Tunnel Syndrome on her left wrist. According to Holte’s Instagram, the surgery went well and she’s well into recovery. She intends to be back to competition in Sanctionals in the not-too-distant future.
Huge List of Athletes at Fittest Freakest
The Fittest Freakest challenge is getting ready for a triumphant return this year. They’ve announced a huge roster of big-name athletes, including Sara Sigmundsdottir, Willy Georges, Lukas Hogberg, Laura Horvath, Noah Ohlsen, Thuri Helgadottir, Lauren Fisher, and Mat Fraser. The event pairs superstar mentors with teams going head-to-head, elimination-style, to be named the Fittest Freakest Superfreak…or something like that. Anywhoo…that’s a big list of names. Here’s to hoping their live stream is free. I’m winking.
Josh Bridges Won’t Retire
The West Coast Classic is the first Sanctional to bring competition back to CrossFit’s home state of California, and is doing so in big style. They’ve announced that, after a multi-year hiatus to deal with elbow and knee surgeries, Josh Bridges will be returning to competition at their event. We saw a little bit of Bridges at the Mayhem Classic during some of their Good Dudes Interludes. Oh. That was good. Good Dudes Interludes. Trademark WODDITY 2020.
Kobe Bryant Memorial Workout
The world was shocked this week by the sudden death of retired basketball legend Kobe Bryant, along with his 13-year-old daughter and a number of others in a helicopter crash. CrossFit Invictus has put together a memorial workout, if you’d like to pay tribute. Called “Mamba and Gigi”, it involves an 18-minute AMRAP of five ring muscle-ups, eight power cleans at 185/125, 24 box jumps, and 13 burpees. The reps stand for Bryant’s 18 consecutive NBA All-Star Games, five championship rings, and his numbers eight and 24 jerseys. The final 13 burpee reps are for his daughter, Gigi.
And that’s it for news about CrossFit for Thursday, January 30th. Thanks for listening. Please be sure to rate, review, subscribe, and share. For WODDITY, I’m Ben Garves. We’ll chat tomorrow.
